Bireysel Özgürlük, Ahlaki Nesnelcilik ve Akıl-Duygu İşbirliğine Dayalı Evrim Etiği

Abstract

In this study initially, by drawing attention to the distinction between reason and emotions frequently encountered in the history of science and philosophy, it is emphasized that they are faculties that cooperatively and harmoniously serve the same end, not those conflicting and dominating one another. Furthermore, such moral issues as the roots of morality, freedom-determinism dilemma, naturalistic fallacy, cognitive and social skills in animals, human rights, moral non-cognitivism and relativism have been discussed. This study has concluded that animals are not wantons solely driven by their innate instincts, that they do possess a wide range of cognitive and social skills, and that human morality is based on some emotions and instincts shared by our social ancestors as well as conscious and prudent reasoning. The insufficiency of the total number of genes in determining human’s all properties precisely and the role played by the conscious and prudent reasoning in morality make moral freedom possible. Moreover, being subject to both individual and group selection, humans are asserted to have existential freedom, which falls outside the collectivismselfishness dilemma. Finally, it is maintained that not merely descriptivist but also normative evolutionary ethics may result in moral objectivism rather than moral nihilism, skepticism, non-cognitivism or relativism, and give humans responsibilities towards both others and other living beings and the nature itself.